Description of incident
On a rainy night of December 7, 2007 at exactly 9:54 p.m., I was driving a Honda Civic company car at a speed of forty-seven miles an hour northbound along Highway 1 of the Pacific Coast Highway. The weather was not all together good and the road was not clearly visible. I was on my way home from work while listening to jazz music when a stray cat suddenly appeared across the highway. In my attempts to avoid hitting the cat, I swiftly made a mere 45-degree right turn. The incident was too quick that the next thing that I remembered was stopping by a solid hit against a tree. I had minor injuries at the side of my left cheek. When I got out of the car to check, I found out that the car experienced a heavier damage than I did. The front fender at the left side of the car was completely displaced and battered.
I immediately called assistance from my Sprint phone’s Roadside Rescue service and at exactly 10:16 p.m., tow service arrived at the scene followed shortly by the police and an ambulance. I was given first aid while the tow truck pulled the car away from the tree. Police Inspector Jason Norton ordered clearing of the area while he interviewed me for the details of the incident.
CAUSES OF INCIDENT
Upon careful investigation, Inspector Norton discovered that the incident was plainly a case of hydroplaning. Because of the heavy rain, the tires of the Honda encountered water more than it can dissipate causing the friction of the road and the tires to be nearly negligible. When the cat appeared, the sudden change in speed and direction of the car caused the wheel to lose control.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Because of the incident, I have set up some recommendations that should be advised to employees to avoid accidents like this. The following should be relayed to all employees at the soonest possible time:
- When driving at night, especially in odd weathers, be alert and decrease your speed from normal. Keep close attention to the road.
- When faced by the same scenario, never turn the steering wheel of the car or apply the brakes. Either action could put the car into a skid from which recovery would be difficult or impossible. Instead, with no change in steering input, gently ease pressure off the gas; control should then return. If braking is unavoidable, use light pumping actions on the brakes until hydroplaning has stopped (Hydroplaning en.wikipedia.org).
Here is my analysis of our sales for the months of October and November to aid us in our inventory planning for the succeeding months. Below is a summary of our sales for the past two months, which I have put in table form for easier analysis.
- Since the demand increased significantly in the past month, I suggest we increase the orders for the following appliances: freezers, washers, and room air conditioners.
- Decrease the orders for dishwashers, electric ranges, gas ranges, and dehumidifiers.
- Retain the order policy for the following: refrigerators, microwave ovens, and dryers.
- We might also want to add more products such as entertainment packages like television sets, DVD players, and stereo component systems.
Please let me know if you approve of the said recommendations so I can make the changes as soon as possible.
As you have requested, here is my progress report on the things that I have learned in the course throughout the term.
Before the start of the course, the only thing that I knew about writing in the workplace was how to write CV’s and cover letters. The first two weeks of the course was devoted to giving an introduction to writing and its importance in the workplace. During those weeks, I realized that there are so many things that I should know when it comes to writing researches, letters, memos, reports, and many others that are essential in my future career.
In week 3, we have discussed writing as a process. I have learned that writing is something that should be carefully planned especially in the workplace. It does not stop in just knowing what to write but also how to write in such a way that whatever your message is will be conveyed clearly to your audience.
The three basic types of communication in the workplace (memo, fax, and e-mail) were discussed in week 4. I learned the uses and importance of each type, as well as how to write each one properly. Although they are the simplest types of writing, it does not mean that they are the easiest because they follow specific guidelines to be able to deliver your message effectively and formally.
Weeks 5 and 6 were all about writing letters. I learned the different types of business letters and their uses. Also, the guidelines of what should be included in each type of letter were discussed. But the most important thing to remember in writing letters is to consider the person to whom the letter is addressed. This is because there are some cases where the writer and the receiver may have different nationalities, cultures, and principles. In these cases the use of appropriate language is very important. On October 15th, I was able to pass Assignment 1 which was an application of what we have learned during the past 2 weeks.
On October 15, 22 and 28, the real deal about getting a job was discussed in class. The three important things that we learned here were writing a resume, a cover letter, and how to shine in an interview. On the first part of this topic, I have learned the essentials in looking for a job and the preparation of an effective resume and other important documents such as dossiers. On the second part, I learned how to write an impressive application letter as well as a follow up letter, which was as important at the former. Finally on the last part, I learned the dos and don’ts in interviews and how to obtain a well-written recommendation letter from professors or superiors from work. At the end, we were given a task in relation to what we have learned in this topic.
It was on the 10th week of the term that we were taught about teamwork. I learned the importance of having a good relationship with co-workers knowing that there would always be times when you have to work in teams. Being a team player is indeed very important in the workplace.
Doing research does not stop in school. It was clearly presented on week 11 that research skills are very important even after graduation. A review on proper researching was done. In line with this, guides on different types of referencing were discussed on the succeeding week. I had ample practice with the MLA style while doing Assignment 3 in relation to this topic.
Finally, the last two weeks of the term was devoted to teaching us how to make different kinds of reports and summaries. I had so much fun writing my incident, sales and progress reports. Overall, I learned so much about writing both for school requirements and for my career in the future.
In the next days, or probably weeks, I will be practicing more to improve my writing skills.
REFERENCES
- “Hydroplaning (tires)”. Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia. ;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroplaning_%28tires%29;
- Kolin, Philip C. Successful Writing at Work 8ed. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.